Mom taught me to make beef stew in my early teens. She used a pressure cooker, starting by cutting the beef into bite size chunks and braising in the pressure cooker, with a little oil until all sides are brown. Next she added a whole onion a teaspoon of salt, a pinch of paprika and cooked both together in a layer of water with medium pressure for 5 minutes after the weight over the valve starts rattling.
While the beef and onion cooked, she would peel and cut 4-6 carrots and 3-4 medium size potatoes into bite size cubes.
After the beef and onions were done she would release the pressure in the cooker with cold water and carefully releasing the pressure at the valve. Once the pressure cooker is open. Add the carrots and potatoes, water to cover the vegetables, start heat with the weight again set to the medium setting and cook for 20 minutes.
Let cool and slowly release the pressure. Once open place the pan on heat and bring to a boil. Mix water and flour to make a paste and add to the boiling water while stirring. Add 2 beef bullion cubes as well.
The stew was ready to serve once the bullion cubes have dissolved and been mixed in.
I no longer use or would recommend a pressure cooker. A crock pot works just as well if not better. I must admit that the worst meal I ever prepared was a beef stew for my mother in-law. When I converted to a crock pot braising the stew meat was inconsistent. This particular stew, meat was tuff. My methods needed improvement.
I also no longer cook with salt.
I now start by taking 2 heaping tablespoons of flour, a pinch of paprika, and about a 1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper in a food storage bag. I place the stew meat in the bag and cover by shaking. In a frying pan I braise the meat with extra virgin olive oil. I repeat this process until all the meat is braised.
As an aside, I’ve been accused of creating a stew which is too watery. Add more flour to create a thicker stew.
When all the meat is braised, I then mix water in the bag to make watery paste and bring to a boil in the fry pan adding 4 cubes of beef bullion. Once the bullion is dissolved I pour the gravy into the crock pot.
Rest of ingredients: (The picture below is an indicator of what is meant by bite size. The cap found at the top of the image is from a 16 ounce bottle of water.)
- 1 large baking potato cubed to bite size.
- 1 lb of carrots sliced to bite size.
- 4-6 cloves of garlic minced. (I don’t remember Mom using garlic, but I now find it a necessary ingredient for many recipes)
- 1 lb of peeled and cubed mushrooms
- About 1/2 cup of red cooking wine
- About tablespoon of low sodium soy sauce.
- There is nothing wrong with adding basil, Italian seasoning, your favorite seasoning, or a salt or salt substitute (I use the soy sauce for that purpose.)
Place ingredients into crock pot and cover with water. Cook over low heat for 8+ hours. Longer cooking times just improve the flavor though I haven’t cooked for over 11 hours because the carrots and potatoes might go mushy.
For dumplings, cook biscuits (your favorite store bought work fine) over the top of the water and cook for the last 1+ hours.
This is a process which suits my taste. As with any truly home cooked meal, no 2 stews are the same. Fixing this as a single man may seem like overkill, but I find that beef stews age well and may actually taste better the 2nd and 3rd day. Having left overs for several days works well on a budget.